Leading planners in the Commonwealth are hoping to establish a planning network in the Pacific that would provide support to leaders and policy makers in the region.
The New Zealand Planning Institute, in collaboration with the Commonwealth Association of Planners and supported by the Planning Institute of Australia, will meet for the first time in the Pacific in Fiji next week.
All three organisations will discuss the establishment of a Pacific Island Planners Association that would give Pacific leaders a collective voice to help push better outcomes for sustainable development in the region.
Chair of the New Zealand Planning Institute, Bryce Julyan, says there is a need for a planners association in the region.
"Australia and New Zealand are the two established institutes in the region and we're really missing that third partner to give us comprehensive coverage in the South Pacific," he said.
"So it's really vital I think for them to be brought into that fold."
Sea level rise is a growing problem for Pacific Island communities. Photo: RNZI / Johnny Blades
